Temperature-controlled relief valve



July 10,1928. v v

- F. T. HOLMES TEMPERATUREJCONTROLLED RELIEF VALVE Filed May 1927 INVENTOR.I

BY Z m f/Za ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 10, 1928 itvacso ref-rear. l es-Firs,

FRANKLIN 'r. HOLMES, or 'srnIneF'IELJ),MASSACHUSETT a'ssreuort'ro rnyoo rn'on na rative, or wnsrrrnnn, masseonusnrrsu GO PoRATIoN orfivmssri'onssnrrs;

"rniurnnmunncournomnn enigma vanvn.

' "Application filed May 2, 1827. -Seria N0.21:8.8;241.

This =invention fire'late's to an improved drain either on excessive pressure or excessive 'temperature. It is customary to have one valve o'pen1ng1c0ntrollod by aspressure operableclosure'and a byep'ass opening for such valve controlled by -a temperature" operable closure. The present invention isdirected to 'animp'roved means in the construction of the temperature controlled-:by-p'ass opening-and its environment. t

In commercial forms of'safety'valves having both the pressure and temperature controlled op'enings, so far aS I =2tl11 -}1Wt1, the

construction-of the temperature controlledmeans is not as simple and efficient as it should be. Furthermore, when-such means operate as'a' relief it is not soeasyiiniprior art structures to reset the 'valve for additional future operations. 'Forwthis reason the resetting "of the 1 temperature controlled means is frequently slighted. -:Eor example, original installations of safety-equipment are ordinarily'required by city ordinance to be inspected when placed,-' but their future condition is thereafter neglected. In ithe case ofithe pressure cont-rolled safety means, the'neglect is not so important becausesuch means 'resets itself -automatically afterieach operatio'n.- In the case of the temperature controlled means the resetting operation -requires personal attention which is frequently tremely simple means *fori'the temperature controlled part, which invites the personal attention of the user of the safety-valve:for

its proper resetting. The constructionis designed to simplify the valve, increase' the factor of safety during-theclife of the valve, and render the valve l capable of convenient and: efficient attention, even in the hands of an unskilled or careless user;

The invention specifically can *be "understood best from' a descriptionofits 'detail construction.

In the drawings:

Figi 1 is a side view of'the'=valve' ready f0 use with interior parts shown; dotted;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section with the pressure operable valve parts omitted and the cap closure for the opening giving access to the by-pass opening shown spaced at the left;

Eigi skie idetai 1 :of. the! preferred row of fusible :plugor cartridge ;--:and p Fig; 1411s a cross-sectional :view1throu-ghqtlie disc-iorwca'p "closure and apair of the fusible plugs carried-tthereby *In the valve the pressure inlet portis 1,,

the drain or main relief port 2, and the pres sure operablerelief valvesea-t is? which rs located: between these ports =1 2 and.- 2. The construction shown provides an :enlarged the seat 3 may be in" astubulan extension with abyepass openingfi below (theseatfor the pressure-fluid to reach fthedrain port independently'of said seat. i

illhe opening fi is;slightly tapered to :re-

ceive the 'zfusible plug 6. lThe'latter is preferably maide like theone? shown in, :F ig.

threads in atheiopening-fi. -The cup-shaped part 7 is thin' enough to be blown out wolf opening' 5- by ipressuretafter the fusible plug is wholly or partially melted.- A ,hole'7 is:':alsoipnovided-' through-the :sideof the cup 7afor"an additionahoutlet.

Gentrallyv ofthevalve casing part 4 and in 11116 with vopening. 5 1 prov-ideza'large opening- 78 adapted to be closed =zby -a threaded as centralzportion 4 m tthexvalve casing so that Circulzudisc'rorcarrier '9 showni spaced from the opening .atwthewleft :as if it were just aboutntotbe screwed into. the opening. This disc :-9 is'preferably flat and only slightly thiokerthannthe walls, .of the valve casing so as'to confornrtorthe;v general contouraof the casing. The :disei-9" is thick-enough to recei'vex-andcarry" in suitable recesses a supply of fusible plugs. 67: for replacement purposes as a the plugs :6 in opening E5. are successively spent or used-311p .in performing their ntended'function. A rather long slot 10 is cut on theoutsideof dise-Q-sothat it may beworked in to itsopening byza screw driver or ithe-edge of a coin and gthe slot in the cup i7- and the head of a the fusible, plug is preferably of the same character to take the same-tool v .v

The advantage of the particularstructure described will be clear from the following considerations. With the valve in place as indicatedin Fig. 1, there may be a leak through the drain port 2. If so, it may becaused by the working of the relief means over seat 3. (This means, not apart of this invention, is fully shown in co-pending application Serial No. 182,507 and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.)

such a case the resetting will be automatic,

But it may be that plug 6 has melted out of opening Then a new. plug needs to be inserted. The disc 9 is removed and the condition of opening 5. is clearly seen.) a new plug is needed it is taken from'the carrier-9 and inserted whenthe system-1s back to its normal condition and without through opening 5.

excessive temperature. If opening 5 needs any preparation as by picking out parts of the spent plug, it can'be done conveniently through opening 8, but ordinarily such parts will be carried out. by. the pressure vented With this construction there can never be any doubt about the condition of the by pass opening 5. The opening 8'is normally out of 'contactwith the pressure fluid, so it does not need to be par ticularl ti ht or acked a ainst leaka e. y 23 D t;

Disc 9 of the casing may be removedfrom time to time for the purpose of prying the valve off seat 3 with a suitable tool. Aswell known, safety valves may be in place ready to' operate but not actually operated over long periodsoftime. The idle valve sometimes sticks on its seat and in my constructionmaybemost conveniently pried off once in a while to insure a proper operation .of

the pressure'safety Valve when needed. The

small ledge just below the valve seat 8 facilitates the prying operation. r

One of the nice effects'of my construction is that it leaves the bodyof my-valve case ing ofthe simplest form and contour without eXcresences due to mechanism that mustwork with relation to the valve. As will be seen,

the valve casing is of the simplest-form and of general stream line contour. In this respect my improvement on the temperature controlled relief means is something that is carried wholly within an ordinary valve casing and yet hasall the advantages for in sp'ection andmore advantages for replacement thanprior art structures have which provide much more elaborate. means for removing parts of the valve from the casing for inspectlon. 'I- am in this invention reaching the same result for the temperature controlled relief means as said co-pending ap plication reaches with respect to the pressure relief means-namely,- a simplification of the valve and particularly its exterior form.

In the use of my valve, the user is invited 'to give it all the attention it needs because of its simplicity and convenience, so that the skilled and sometimes careless help of the plumber is not as necessary as it otherwise would seem if the valve were more complicated either in fact or in ap pearance.

I I claim as my invention:

1. A safety valve having a casing wholly enclosing a valve seat, a by-pass around said seat, a fusible plug in said by-pass, a removable section of saidcasing adjacent said plug and a series of spare plugs carried in the body of saidsection.

2. A safety, valve having a casing wholly enclosing a valve seat, a by-pass around said seat, a fusible plug in said by-pass, a reniovable section of saidcasing adjacent said plug and a series of spare plugs carried in the body of said section, the plugsbeing buried in recessesof the section. y

3. A safety valve havingacasing wholly enclosing a valve seat,'a by-pass around said seat, a fusible plug in said by-pass,,a removable section-of said casing adjacent said plug and a series-ofs'pare plugs carried. in

the bodyof said section, the plugs being buried in recesses of the section, the casing and section forming a symmetrical contour forthe safety valve as a whole.

4. A. carrier for fusible plugs adapted to forma section of a safety valve casing and of'about the samethickness as such casing,

said carrier having recesses, of about the depth o-fthe fusible plugs to be carried and I adaptedto removably hold the plugsas spare parts for a valve. 5. A fusible plug for use ina safety valve comprising a fusible portion and a non fusible threaded. head portion .ofthin construction, a slot through the head portion, and extending into the fusible portion.

6. In aqsafety valve construction, a valve casing'havmg a pressure inlet port and a drain port with anenlarged section between the two, .a tubular extenslon from the inlet port into the enlarged portion provided with FRANKLIN T, HOLMES; 

